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Sunday, September 16, 2012

A Little Attraction

About a week ago the gang over at www.woodworkingtalk.com were
discussing how many of us woodworkers seem to have multiple projects going on
at the same time.There were several
reasons mentioned from short attention spans (“was that a squirrel?”) to
stocking up on products to sell, or the mounting pressure to start attacking
the long list of Christmas presents that are expected from family and
friends.

At first I thought, “Well I’ve only got two things going
right now…oh no wait, three…unless I count those Padauk boxes, so that would be
four…and then there’s the…” I finally landed on a count of eight different
projects in various stages of completion in the works right now so I had to
take a step back and ponder why it’s so easy for us (me) to start a new project
before a current one is complete.

Some aspects may remain an unsolved mystery (“Oh look,
another squirrel!”) however, for me a lot of it is timing.There are times when I only have a short time
to work in the shop, so I’ll look to smaller projects to get my fix in.Then there are times when I’ve got a day or
two to spend down in the shop so the fervor to start something more substantial
sets in.Time of day also plays into the
story.With a napping baby or an 8:00
bedtime for Danger Boy, running the jointer or table saw is sometimes frowned
upon.Don’t mess with Mom and the
serenity that comes with sleeping boys.Just pull out the sandpaper or Danish Oil and keep it down!

With this deeply philosophical question rattling around my
brain I’ve challenged myself to start working through my list of open projects
to bring them to a close.First up…the
Oak candle holders.

I had decided to construct one of these candle holders with
a break-down configuration.After
cutting the small cup shape in the candle platforms I flipped one set over and
cut some shallow 1/4 inch wide holes on center.

These little pockets are sized to receive some small
rare-earth magnets.A little dab of
Super Glue gel and they are locked in for good.

I then drilled a small counter-sink and pilot hole into the
tops of the shorter base pieces.

Another few drops of the Super Glue and a couple taps with a
tack hammer and these small carpet tacks are seated nice and flush.

Even though these magnets are small they really pack a lot
of attractive strength.Once they
connect with the head of the carpet tacks these small platforms lock down onto
the base quite nicely.You really have
to jolt the platforms pretty hard to break the magnetic bond, so these should
do a great job in keeping the holder together and ensuring that the candles don’t
tip over or spill when moved or bumped.

I’ll be applying a hand-rubbed, Danish Oil finish to this
breakdown set.Once that’s cured and
buffed out I’ll send this one on its way to its new home.

The remaining four candle holders will be permanently joined.Two will have this same clean-lined, simple symmetrical
configuration, while the other two will receive a bit of experimental shaping
to change the form up a little.

Stay tuned…the Danish Oil that I’ve applied to a couple
scrap, test pieces revealed some great color and tone to both woods in this
design.